


Hear the Echo of Your Footsteps

by Emily_Woods



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, Idiots in Love, M/M, Polyamory Negotiations, Story Cubes Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 14:31:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15951287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_Woods/pseuds/Emily_Woods
Summary: People of Camelot Are Suddenly Turning Into Monsters or Merlin Learns that He Cannot Control Everything.





	Hear the Echo of Your Footsteps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xinasvoice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xinasvoice/gifts).



> This work is a part of my Story Cubes Game, you can learn more about the idea here -  
> https://confidentweirdo.tumblr.com/post/175377858450/hey-guys
> 
> My usual disclaimer: I am not a native speaker. No beta has ever seen this "masterpiece". I can only imagine how many mistakes this post has but I swear to Merlin I did my best. If there are any errors that make you feel uncomfortable - I am very, very open to good criticism, so again feel free to message me. I made this just just for fun and never expected anything more. If you got through this paragraph and didn't close the tab by now, you are blessed to proceed to the actual work. But all those warnings still stand.
> 
> This work is gifted to xinasvoice, because she made me think a lot about polyamory in fanfiction. Thanks, dearie <3

“If you’re still upset about our conversation earlier…”

“I’m not, Arthur. And there’s nothing to be upset about, really. I know what I feel towards you, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. Besides, I already promised you multiple times that I will protect you ‘til my last breath. And whatever it is you feel towards me—” Merlin stumbled across his own words, making king’s bed. “I respect and love Gwen too much to do something like this to her. She’s your _wife_ , Arthur _and_ my best friend. You love her very much, I know you do,” he added softy. “So, let’s just… Not bring it up again, okay?”

When Merlin turned back to him, Arthur looked hurt and upset, but mostly — completely and utterly lost. Merlin came closer and squeezed his shoulder in a sympathetic way. He would’ve gone for a hug, but wasn’t sure if that was what they both needed or could handle right now.

“I am still your best friend, Arthur. Your servant, your most loyal adviser. And whatever happens…” Merlin hesitated before making such a big promise. “ _…we_ will be all right,” he finished, emphasizing his every word.

Arthur opened his mouth to defend his point of view, and Merlin immediately recognized that face: the king was about to become an embodiment of stubbornness.

Suddenly, they heard a female scream somewhere upstairs. It took them both only a fraction of the second to recognize that voice.

“Gwen!” Arthur shouted and run into the hallway. Merlin followed closely, the heart racing in his chest.

The moment they stepped outside, it was obvious that this hell broke loose a while ago. There were no guards at the doors, which was already unusual, considering it was king’s bedroom. Servants were screaming and running away in sheer panic, not even trying to carry any belongings with them, like they would’ve during the fire. To make sure that this was not the case, Merlin went back to the chambers and looked out of the window — there was no trace of smoke anywhere near the inner courtyard, but everyone was frightened, escaping like their lives depended on it. The king returned to the room, too, and the moment his eyes met with Merlin’s, they both heard a loud ring from the bell tower. Signal of an imminent threat.

Both men exchanged quick nods — they knew each other long enough to understand what that meant.

_‘Go get Gwen and I’ll try to figure out what is happening,’_ Arthur’s nod implied.

_‘Got it, on my way,’_ Merlin’s eyes said. He turned away to leave the room. Arthur suddenly grabbed his hand, harder than the manservant would expect him to.

_‘Be careful,’_ his gesture meant.

_‘You know I will be, don’t worry,’_ Merlin’s quick squeeze and smile reassured him.

Little did the warlock know, this might have as well been the last time he saw Arthur alive.

***

While Merlin was running to Gwen’s bedroom, he was trying to think of all the possible reasons for the alarm. Nothing he saw or heard in the last hour or two could cause anything similar and there were absolutely no signs of a trouble brewing. He managed to get to the queen’s chambers in just under a minute, broke into the room and was very glad he decided to run all the way.

It was a complete mess. All of Her Majesty’s clothes were on the floor, mixed with most of the things from the night table, as well as some books and fragments of broken furniture and pier glass.

Gwen looked terrified, holding the back of the chair, protecting herself against a tall figure. Without even thinking twice, Merlin used all his might and a little bit of magic to drop a large oak wardrobe on the stranger’s head. When the attacker fell unconscious, he helped Gwen get back on her feet, and asked her immediately:

“Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

“No,” Gwen was trembling from all the shock. “It was one of my guards, he wanted to…”

“What? To kill you? Did he have a weapon?”

“No, Merlin, no, I think… I believe he wanted to…” she started crying.

Merlin’s face went white. There is usually only one sin you can scare the woman so much with.

“To assault the king’s wife? If he mad? Did he think about the consequences?”

Gwen’s cries went quieter.

“He wanted to bite me, Merlin,” she said, suddenly calm.

Warlock frowned in disbelief. ‘Maybe the shock was just too much for her,’ he thought to himself.

At this exact moment that big hulk of a man moved and started raising to his feet. Merlin opened his mouth to call the guards, but then he remembered the castle was nearly empty; when Gwen’s attacker turned around, Merlin finally understood why. The man’s eyes were bright red, almost invisible from the huge black pupils, his skin gray, like he has been dead for quite a while now, and his face beared no trace of remorse or even recognition — all in all, he looked more like a beast than an average guard.

“Don’t come any closer!” Merlin asked quietly, his voice shaking. “Can you understand me?” He was still hoping for the best. Somehow it was obvious that there is no reason to run — the two of them were an easy target for such a killing machine.

The creature roared and made a few quick steps towards them — it was clear that he was attacking, and not trying to communicate. “Run!” Merlin grabbed Gwen’s forearm and pulled. The queen, still a little weak from the shock obeyed instantly. Everything happened in a glimpse of a second — warlock instinctively raised his hand, setting the whole attacker’s body on fire. At this point, Gwen was already too far from the door to notice what happened. The beast roared in pain, still trying to reach for them.

While they run through the many empty corridors of the castle, Merlin could hear his own heartbeat and heavy breathing.

Gwen haven’t seen or heard anything, has she? It’s all right, he didn’t have any choice, didn’t have any time to reach for something else to defend himself with and they both would’ve been dead if it wasn’t for his magic. Merlin stole a look at the queen — she was definitely scared with the whole situation, but not him in particular. That still gave him hope. More importantly, Merlin had no idea how to get Gwen to safety and where on Earth was Arthur; these questions were far more urgent right now than anything else.

Most of the corridors were covered with blood, some of them had human remains laying around; Merlin tried hard not to look at those. His intuition suggested that they had to abandon the castle — the fastest the better, but there is no way Merlin would leave Arthur behind. The only way out of the endless sequence of the corridors was through the throne-room; by a coincidence, that was also the only place Merlin thought Arthur might be at.

When they opened a heavy gilded door, Gwen almost fainted. Human corpses were everywhere, it looked like at least some of them didn’t know what was coming and some had hideous grimaces all over their faces — Merlin wondered if this was the room where everything began.

Firstly, it looked like the hall had only corpses, but the moment they entered, a few beasts appeared from the other side of the thrones; Merlin prayed he could someday forget how the creatures were busy consuming human bodies before they got disturbed.

Merlin picked up the torch and in a few rapid motions set the beasts on fire, this time being more careful about Gwen’s presence. The creatures screamed and writhed with pain on the floor; the smell of the burned flesh quickly filled the room. Merlin wasn’t paying a lot of attention to them, he was far too worried about finding Arthur now, because one of the corpses was covered with his cape. It was obvious that the king was paying his dues to the deceased, so now Merlin was just wondering where did Arthur go after that. There were also stains of blood all around the body, as well as somebody’s incarnadine footsteps. Merlin didn’t know that yet, but those footsteps would be hunting him down in the nightmares long after this day.

While they were looking around the room, the bell tower rang again, as if calling for everyone who’s still alive. Merlin raised his head in determination.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly to Gwen. “We would be safer in the church.”

The queen nodded in agreement and once more followed him with no objections. Merlin was glad that she remained quiet — they were both in shock and needed to see that everyone they cared about were alive and well. At this point, warlock was just hoping that Arthur would be waiting for them with the others in the church. If not, Merlin was certain he’ll come back for the king after getting Gwen to safety.

***

Merlin was right about the hiding spot - most of the people run to a holy familiar place when they got scared. In a few hours, everyone in Camelot, who were both alive and not bitten, gathered in the big old cathedral.

Merlin was desperately looking for Gaius, but the old man was nowhere to be seen, keeping the warlock in suspense. Mostly people knew him as the healer’s apprentice, so they relied on him to be healing anyone who had simple injuries from fleeing or hasty actions of others. People who were bitten transformed into the monsters in the matter of hours, so they were pushed out of the door the moment it became public knowledge, and often those banishments were heartbreaking. To ensure the safety of others, Merlin constantly had to check everyone for any visible signs of the bite marks, but occasionally mistakes happened.

Days passed by in a glimpse of an eye. Merlin had no other choice but to stay and help people who put so much faith in his abilities to cure others. He did know a few remedies Gaius used all the time, but mostly he was just enchanting water or wine to become medicine when no one looked his way.

The reins of power were now on a shoulders of a young queen, and there were many questions she had to answer on a daily basis — where would they get supplies, is there any way of treating those who were bitten, how long are they going to stay here, are there any other survivors, etc. — and Merlin was helping out with everything he could but every second of every day there was only one person on his mind. Arthur.

 

“Would it be okay if I spoke with Her Highness privately?”

The guards turned to Gwen nonchalantly. She waved them off with such easiness that one could have mistaken her for an inborn royal.

Merlin waited for the footsteps to die away.

“I’m going tomorrow, Gwen. At dawn.”

“You’re not going anywhere, it’s too dangerous.”

Merlin winced. These past few days made Gwen much harsher than he ever feared she might become.

“This is Arthur we’re talking about. It means I don’t have a choice. You know too well that I’d rather die than just sit here and wait for his return. He might be hurt, he might need my help—”

“We might need your help too!”

“You will be alright for now, I left you enough remedies to last for a long time and there are a few midwives out there who know just how to use them. I am not being selfish, I promise Gwen, I’m not. I just…”

She waited for him to finish that thought.

“It’s been three days, Gwen. And those blood-stained footsteps that we saw… I cannot put them out of my head! There is something very wrong about them, something that gives me shivers. If he is dead, I want to know that. For sure.”

“I suppose it is useless to ask you to take me with you?”

“You are a wise woman, Guinevere, so you know it is,” Merlin smiled wearily and closed his eyes, just for a second. It’s been three days since he last slept, two days since he ate and approximately one minute since he last used magic - the state of things was definitely not in his favor. “We should all rest.”

“Eat first,” Gwen insisted, her voice soft now. “Here, I made the guards leave you some soup.” She handed him a kettle, thus making the fire highlight the bruises on her hands, the dirt all over her body and a dress that was lovely only a few days ago, but now looked like old man’s rags.

“Thanks,” Merlin smiled sadly and moved closer to the fire. Gwen looked at him intensely.

“Is there at least a tiny possibility of me talking you into waiting a few more days?” she asked one more time while Merlin ate.

“No, my queen,” he replied jokingly, but with great confidence.

“Don’t call me that,” she laughed, but it barely touched her eyes.

Merlin smiled back reassuringly. He really did love Gwen, very much. She was a sister, a best friend, a person he trusted completely - someone he never had before coming to Camelot. And she is going to be a great ruler someday, in case anything happened to Arthur… Merlin shook his head, forbidding himself to finish that thought. Somehow, he just couldn’t get those bloody footsteps out of his head.

“Would you still go if it was any other man in there?” Gwen asked quietly as if she already knew the answer. Warlock froze for a moment, a little shocked by that question, but quickly pretended like nothing happened. Woman’s eyes never left his face, studying it carefully. All of them were exhausted from the fighting and fleeing and constant fear. Merlin could only imagine how the queen must feel, seeing her people dying or… even worse.

“He is no other man, Gwen.”

“It’s a “no” then,” she lowered her head and smiled a little. “You must love him very much,” she continued matter-of-factly, “to come back there even though the last few days proved to be a living hell on Earth.”

Merlin swallowed hard. He was not ready for such a conversation.

“I… do?”

“And I know for a fact he loves you just as much,” Gwen added, looking at the fire now. She didn’t look sad while saying that, it was almost like she was trying to give Merlin a slight push in the right direction.

“He… does?” Merlin repeated dully, feeling like he is missing out on a very important detail in this conversation.

“Of course, he does, silly! And I believe he not only told you about that, he also proved it time and time again.”

“Well—”

Merlin wasn’t sure what he was trying to say here, he certainly didn’t have a prepared answer for that.

“Anyways, I love Arthur too, you see,” Gwen continued, watching him closely, now definitely trying to explain something to him.

Merlin nodded eagerly. He still felt like missing out  on the most important bits but this was a much more familiar ground.

“And you want to know what I think? I think that loving someone very much means that you want to see that person happy, right?”

Merlin nodded again, not trusting himself to speak.

“And Arthur is ecstatic when he is around you, Merlin.”

“He is?”

“Oh, believe me, he is!” she laughed again, this time with more feelings.

Gwen paused, as she was checking up on Merlin. “Anyone with a pair of eyes can see that.”

“All right?” he offered uncertainly, having absolutely no idea what she was expecting him to say.

The queen sighed and repeated again, stressing her every word.

“Let’s try this again, darling: I am happy when Arthur’s happy. And he is happy when he is with you. Being _in love_ with you,” she emphasized.

Merlin felt his face blushing. She definitely couldn’t be saying what he thought she was saying. There is absolutely no way that a queen of Camelot, his best friend, the king’s wife was suggesting that he… that they…

“Wait, you can’t be—”

Gwen’s face lit up like he just cracked the code she has been sending him for months now.

“I am saying, Merlin, that I don’t mind. I really don’t. I knew what I was getting into when I married that man. After all, he was in love with you long before he was with me,” she shrugged like it was the most obvious thing ever.

Merlin leaned back on the cold wall.

“Oh my,” was the only thing he was able to say.

“Don’t be so surprised. I was trying to tell you that for quite some time now, actually. But you don’t really take the hints, do you?”

“But what about you?” he asked, still trying to process all the information.

“Don’t get me wrong, he loves me too, I am sure of that. I just think it’s pretty cruel to make him chose,” she shrugged. “I would never ever put him in such position.”

Merlin suddenly felt sick. He wasn’t even giving Arthur a choice, he was basically choosing for him, never stopping to ask what the other man wanted or thought or might suggest. Merlin’s behavior not only didn’t help them in any way, it was ruining their relationship from the inside even after the truth about their feelings was finally out.

Gwen shivered in her blanket.

“We both need to rest,” she said confidently, raising to her feet.

Merlin stood up too.

“You Majesty,” he said politely.

“Stop it!” Gwen hissed to him on her way, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the darkness.

Merlin sat dawn. This was by far the weirdest conversation of his life.

***

The dawn of the new day was grey, dull and unsympathetic. Merlin stood at the top of bell tower, fully prepared for what may be the last morning of his life. He had magic, of course, but there were dozens of ruthless beasts out there, so he didn’t have much hope.

That was the top of the iceberg. He was not afraid of dying, it is something that is going to happen to everyone sooner or later, there was no point of being afraid of that. On the other hand, seeing people he loves die… Well, that was a completely different scenario.

Long before the first rays of light touched the cupolas, Merlin was already casting spells. He gathered as much power as he possibly could and poured it all into invisible protecting shields. He covered the entrance to the church, peasants, all of the Camelot’s nights, - at least those who survived - some of the guards and, of course, Gwen. He spent almost half an hour kneeling quietly in front of her Majesty, while she was still sleeping, castling and casting and castling every he protective spell he ever knew, making sure they will last even if he died.

By the time he was supposed to leave, he had just enough power to kill a few beasts, maybe half a dozen before falling. Merlin prayed to every god he knew so that it would be enough to find Arthur and get him out of the castle.

Gwen woke up just in time, walked him to the door and hugged him tightly. After Her Majesty’s order two guards standing sentinel were released and everyone else was not up yet, so there were only two of them near the door.

“This is not a goodbye,” Gwen said loudly and clearly, apparently convincing herself. Her eyes were sparking with unshed tears; of course, she was standing completely straight and her voice was even, but she clearly did not believe Merlin will be coming back. Which, ridiculously, made Merlin’s heart warm up a little — even though Gwen thought he was making a wrong decision right now, she respected him enough not to stop him. And by the power vested in her by the crown and at least a hundred loyal men, she had lots of opportunities to do that. Merlin squeezed her back.

“I can do it, Gwen,” he said finally. “I can bring him back.”

“No need,” a familiar hoarsely voice said from the doors. “He brought himself back.”

Merlin and Gwen both turned back slowly, like beggars on the street that suddenly received a hundred-pound piece of gold directly on their lap and were not sure what to do with it.

“Arthur?” Gwen spoke first, the tears now streaming from her eyes.

“Yes, dear,” he said softly. His hand was tightly pressed to the chest — a few ribs were probably broken, but no visible bite marks anywhere. There was dust in his hair, old blood on the clothes and bruises all over the body, but it was the last thing any of them cared about right now.

Merlin and Gwen both stepped to hug Arthur at exactly the same time. Merlin though it would be awkward, but surprisingly it wasn’t: they just covered king’s body from both sides, trying to feel his warmth and believe this miracle is real.

Arthur hugged both of them back with an exhausted but happy smile and the time stopped. Merlin met the king’s eyes and something clicked inside of him. Warlock slowly licked his lips and gave himself no time to change his mind — he leaned in and kissed Arthur with all the passion he was capable of.

To say the least, Arthur was a little surprised, but quickly found his bearings and kissed back with almost equal amount of eagerness. It wasn’t the most skillful or the most pleasant kiss in Merlin’s life, but it was by far the happiest. Arthur smelled like blood, a lot of blood, but mostly — rain and himself; Merlin could not really remember the moment he started calling this smell “home” in his head.

There was no one around except for three of them, so the moment was absolutely perfect. Gwen put her head on Arthur’s other shoulder, and was watching them, smiling. It wasn’t a forced smile though, she seemed genuinely happy. And for a moment, just for a tiny glimpse of a second, Merlin thought that this - whatever _this_ was - could actually work out between the three of them.


End file.
